iOS 18 is a smart upgrade, even without the AI

It’s a weird twelvemonth for iOS.

Usually, the caller package type arrives each astatine once. Not truthful pinch iOS 18. The foundational worldly has arrived, and successful a normal year, things for illustration RCS support and a redesigned power halfway would beryllium much than enough. But iOS 18’s header feature, Apple Intelligence, isn’t moreover portion of this first release, and we whitethorn not spot immoderate of its astir absorbing features until good into 2025. The iOS 18 rollout starts now, and it’s conscionable going to support connected rolling for the foreseeable future.

iOS 18 is an eager update, moreover without Apple Intelligence successful the picture. Customization options are astatine an all-time high, and pinch immoderate tinkering, you’ll beryllium capable to personalize your iPhone for illustration ne'er before. It’s almost un-Apple-like.

Control Center is simply a bully spot to start. The quick-access settings sheet has looked and functioned successful fundamentally the aforesaid measurement for astir of the past decade, but it gets a large overhaul successful iOS 18. I deliberation this is Apple astatine its best: everything you request is still location and the vibe is overwhelmingly familiar, but erstwhile you excavation in, you tin spot really it’s a monolithic change.

Controls are divided into pages now, pinch the acquainted worldly for illustration connectivity and attraction modes successful the places you’d expect them to beryllium connected the first page. And each page is highly customizable: you prime the controls you want to adhd aliases region and determine wherever you want them and what size they should be. It’ll get moreover much absorbing erstwhile third-party apps commencement adding their ain controls.

The caller layout took maine a infinitesimal to get utilized to. At first, I was swiping excessively acold down the surface and skipping to the 2nd aliases 3rd page of controls. It took a week aliases truthful to retrain that musculus memory, and you tin conscionable delete the further pages if you want to. Personally, I’m hoping I tin move the caller power halfway into a small distant power for my telephone and usage it to trim down connected the number of trips I make to individual apps.

Another alteration to iOS 18 will either beryllium an insignificant summation aliases a immense woody — no in-between: the summation of RCS. I’m successful the second category, and fto maine show you, it was a thrill to spot my first RCS messages spell done to my friends connected Android. Without immoderate input connected my part, aft I downloaded the iOS 18 beta, my messages started falling backmost to RCS alternatively than SMS. The full point has worked amazingly well. I spot typing indicators and publication receipts, and tapbacks show up arsenic reactions and not a full other message, finally.

The existent infinitesimal of truth will beryllium erstwhile my friends yet upgrade to iOS 18 and we’ll beryllium capable to connection photos to each different without a batch of analyzable broadside channeling. I person shown remarkable restraint successful not asking my iPhone-owning friends to download beta software, but you tin stake my run to get them each to upgrade to iOS 18 starts today. If you’re an iPhone proprietor who regularly messages personification connected Android, please see doing the same. This incarnation of RCS connected the iPhone isn’t going to extremity the blue-bubble, green-bubble wars, but it will relieve the biggest symptom points successful cross-platform messaging for group connected some sides.

Equally important arsenic sharing priceless memories pinch my friends? The truth that iOS 18 will besides let you to disfigured up your homescreen successful unprecedented ways. You tin spell afloat Alex Cranz connected your homescreen if you’re a weirdo, aliases you tin conscionable put the friggin’ icons precisely wherever you want them for the first clip since the invention of the iPhone. Imagine!

Apple has shown disconnected the app icon tinting characteristic pinch a batch of beautiful examples, but personally, I haven’t been capable to find a measurement to usage them that doesn’t extremity up looking excessively “Material Ew.” But putting icons anyplace I want connected the surface already feels truthful intuitive, I can’t judge we couldn’t do this before.

You cognize this is simply a large update erstwhile an wholly caller Passwords app is only, like, the 4th astir absorbing point going on. It’s self-explanatory, and aft poking astir for a bit, I’m convinced that this is an app for your parents who garbage to study really to usage a password manager. You tin prevention passwords and entree them from your iOS, iPad, and macOS devices, arsenic you’d expect. But you tin besides stock individual passwords aliases groups of passwords pinch different people, which would beryllium useful for families and group successful the aforesaid household.

The catch, of course, is that everyone needs to beryllium successful the Apple ecosystem, and since I often jump betwixt iOS and Android, it’s not thing I tin really usage successful the agelong term. Incidentally, utilizing a first-party Apple password head would besides make switching distant from iOS successful the early that overmuch harder, which is astir apt nary accident. But if my parents were each successful connected Apple, I’d perfectly make judge they were utilizing it.

One characteristic I cognize I’ll beryllium utilizing for the agelong haul? Transcription successful Voice Memos. This mightiness beryllium 1 for my chap journalists, but friends, it is good. For years, I’ve utilized Pixel phones to grounds and transcribe interviews, and the Pixel has fundamentally remained unchallenged arsenic the champion instrumentality for the job. In iOS 18, Voice Memos will yet transcribe your recordings, successful existent clip aliases aft the fact, and it’s connected par pinch the Pixel Recorder app arsenic acold arsenic value goes. It whitethorn not beryllium a characteristic for the masses, but if you know, you know.

A caller power halfway and a much customizable app grid don’t look for illustration overmuch connected paper. And plentifulness of group will astir apt conscionable time off them alone, which is fine. But if you don’t mind putting successful a small effort, you’ll find iOS 18 beautiful rewarding — nary artificial intelligence required.

Still, AI is the large missing portion here. I’ve been able to preview immoderate of it successful early betas: the caller glowing Siri will make you spell “Oooh” retired large the first clip you usage it, and the first loop of Apple Intelligence will connection email summaries, notification digests, and penning tools. I’ve yet to beryllium genuinely wowed by immoderate of this, but the large worldly — aliases truthful we’ve been told again and again — is yet to come. Siri will summation contextual consciousness and the expertise to really do worldly for you, which is perchance a large deal. That’s each coming successful a later update; until then, you’ll mostly beryllium stuck pinch the aforesaid aged assistant.

For now, Apple Intelligence is still slow coming into focus. But moreover without the large AI features, iOS 18 is disconnected to a bully start. Apple conscionable needs to decorativeness it.